Month: August 2014

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Over the last year or so, I’ve read a lot about HDR photography – mostly about when to use it and, more importantly, when not to use it. Despite this, I’ve never really had a chance to try it out myself. When I saw the water feature outside the museum, I decided it was the perfect chance to try it out. The sun was shining brightly, but there were harsh shadows deeper into the little enclave. I unfortunately didn’t have my tripod on me, so I had to do my best to hold steady and pretend like I am the tripod.

I’m reasonable happy with the end product. Anyone out there more experienced with HDR who can give some feedback?

So Phillip does this thing that is simultaneously adorable and a little annoying. Golden Retrievers are very smart, you see, and he’s learned that if he picks up random objects in his mouth, Humans will come running towards him. I’m pretty sure he thinks it’s a really fun game, so he does it whenever he feels like he’s not getting enough attention. Sometimes it’s a stuffed toy, sometimes it’s a mat (as above), but usually it’s a shoe. I’m pretty sure that this is some sort of accidental form of classical conditioning that he’s wisely learned over his years on Earth.

Except.. I just can’t shake the feeling that he’s Pavlov and we’re his dogs, not the other way around:

Like this:

Okay, I’ll admit it. I am officially in love with taking photos at night. It is a little bit of a hassle to trek around with a tripod, but I think the end result is worth it. The Brisbane River looks horrible during the day (brown and murky), but boy does it make for great nocturnal pictures! That’s our tiny little ferris wheel up there, next to our performing arts centre. So I guess you could theoretically go for a spin then catch the latest performance, all in one night.

I was also lucky enough to catch a couple of ferries streaking past while I had the shutter open, which always makes for brilliant light trails.

I took this on campus a little while ago and I’m really happy with the way it turned out. It really just evokes memories of all the time I left for home in the late afternoon, lazily walking through the limestone corridors with the fading light streaming through the gaps in the pillars and the ceiling lights starting to switch on all around me.

I find this sign more than a little amusing because of its placement. It’s obviously usually used around construction sites, but I like to pretend this sign is warning you that there’s a traffic light up ahead and you should prepare to stop. Just in case it’s red. Talk about overkill, though I guess you can never be too safe.

I know that, as kids, we’re always told to look both ways before we cross a road, but this is the first time I’ve had the road itself tell me how to cross it. It’s incredible, excessive and amazing all at the same time. I mean, what do we do when we get to every other road crossing? I guess we all just flap around looking lost and not knowing what to do because the road doesn’t have printed instructions.

On a side (and completely pedantic) note, I disagree with the order in which to look – I’m interpreting these instructions as telling me to look left, then look right. I live in Australia and we drive on the left side of the road here, so I think it makes sense to look to my right first (for oncoming cars in the lane closest to me), then look to the left. And then I usually look to the right again.